A pandemic of the novel coronavirus has now killed more than 1.3 million people worldwide.
Over 58.7 million people across the globe have been diagnosed with COVID-19, the disease caused by the new respiratory virus, according to data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University. The actual numbers are believed to be much higher due to testing shortages, many unreported cases and suspicions that some national governments are hiding or downplaying the scope of their outbreaks. The criteria for diagnosis -- through clinical means or a lab test -- has also varied from country to country.
The United States is the worst-affected nation, with more than 12.2 million diagnosed cases and at least 256,783 deaths.
Nearly 200 vaccine candidates for COVID-19 are being tracked by the World Health Organization, at least 10 of which are in crucial phase three studies. Of those 10 potential vaccines in late-stage trials, there are currently five that will be available in the United States if approved.
More than half of El Paso cases coming from retail shopping
In hard-hit El Paso, Texas, rising cases are due to community spread, primarily through retail shopping, Mayor Dee Margo said.
A sign is displayed at a drive-in COVID-19 testing site amid a surge of coronavirus cases in the city on Nov. 18, 2020 in El Paso, Texas.
Mario Tama/Getty Images
"We did a deep dive from Oct. 10 to Oct. 16 in our contact tracing," he told "GMA 3: What You Need To Know." We found out that 55.11% of our positives were coming from retail shopping. Primarily in what we would term the big major retailers, the big-box stores. So it's a community spread."
El Paso is in the middle of its fifth week of its latest COVID-19 spike, the mayor said. With so many fatalities, the county Thursday put out a call for morgue staffing.
With 1,000 cases reported on Friday, the Texas city has had at least 79,000 -- and 845 fatalities.
ABC News' Ariane Nalty contributed to this report.
Nov 20, 2020, 12:49 PM EST
More cases in past 4 weeks than in first 6 months of pandemic
There have been more COVID-19 cases worldwide in the last four weeks than in the first six months of the pandemic, said Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization.
A nurse enters a patient room in a wing housing COVID-19 patients at UW Health University Hospital in Madison, Wis., Nov. 18, 2020.
Daniel Acker/Reuters
Medical staff members prepare for an intubation procedure on a patient in the COVID-19 intensive care unit at the United Memorial Medical Center on Nov. 19, 2020, in Houston.
Go Nakamura/Getty Images
He again urged people, despite promising news on vaccines, to continue using all tools to interrupt chains of transmission and save lives now.
ABC News' Kirit Radia contributed to this report.
Nov 20, 2020, 9:57 AM EST
Florida Sen. Rick Scott tests positive, urges everyone to wear masks
Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fl., announced Friday that he has tested positive for COVID-19.
After returning to Florida last week, Scott came into contact with someone who subsequently tested positive. The Republican senator has been quarantining at his home in Naples since then. He took multiple rapid tests earlier this week, all of which were negative, but a PCR (polymerase chain reaction) test he took Tuesday came back positive Friday morning, according to a press release from his office.
"After several negative tests, I learned I was positive this morning," Scott said in a statement Friday. "I am feeling good and experiencing very mild symptoms. I will be working from home in Naples until it is safe for me to return to Washington, D.C."
Senator Rick Scott speaks during a campaign event for senators David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler in Cumming, Ga., Nov. 13, 2020.
Dustin Chambers/Reuters
Scott is the eighth member of Congress to test positive for COVID-19 just this week.
"I want to remind everyone to be careful and do the right things to protect yourselves and others. Wear a mask. Social distance. Quarantine if you come in contact with someone positive like I did," he said. "As we approach Thanksgiving, we know this holiday will be different this year. But, listen to public health officials and follow their guidance. We will beat this together, but we all have to be responsible."
ABC News' Mariam Khan contributed to this report.
Nov 20, 2020, 8:54 AM EST
US Army general says there's 40 million vaccine doses ready to go once FDA grants authorization
A top U.S. Army general who is co-leading the federal government's COVID-19 vaccine initiative said they will start distributing doses throughout the nation 24 hours after the Food and Drug Administration grants emergency use authorization (EUA).
"We have about 40 million doses of vaccine, give or take, exactly when the EUA comes out," Gen. Gustave Perna, chief operations officer for Operation Warp Speed, told ABC News chief anchor George Stephanopoulos in an interview Friday on "Good Morning America."
"We're going to execute fair and equitable distribution based on the population of the jurisdictions -- jurisdictions identified as the 50 states, eight territories and six metropolitan cities," he added, noting that governors will then "make sure the priority for the execution of the vaccine within the state will be implemented."
"We're going to get it down to the states. The states are going to tell us exactly where they want it to be," the general said. "We will ensure that the vaccine gets there in a timely manner. We'll make an initial push -- once EUA is approved -- of everything we have on the shelf, and then every week we're going to maintain a cadence of delivery of vaccine so the states have access and prior planning knowledge to ensure it gets to the right places and the right times."
Army Gen. Gustave Perna, chief operations officer for Operation Warp Speed appears on "Good Morning America," Nov. 20, 2020.
ABC News
Perna said the news that Pfizer and partner BioNTech will submit a EUA request to the FDA on Friday for their COVID-19 vaccine candidate is "really remarkable." He expressed "100% confidence" that Operation Warp Speed's distribution plan will be a success -- a process he said began some six months ago.
"We started with the development, manufacturing. We have taken no shortcuts to this end," he said. "It has been a well regulated and accounted for process that we are ensuring occurs the right way."
The general said Operation Warp Speed has also teamed up with companies like Walgreens and CVS.
"I've sat down with their CEOS and their teams -- very elaborate, very comprehensive, operational plans on how they can partner with states to deliver vaccines from inner cities to rural America," he said, "and I'm incredibly confident that they can do that."
When asked whether outgoing President Donald Trump's refusal to cooperate with President-elect Joe Biden and his transition team has hindered vaccine efforts, Perna replied, "Absolutely not."
